The HC on Wednesday ordered the conditional arrest of the vessel MSC Polo II, a sister vessel of MSC ELSA 3, which had capsized and sunk off the Kerala coast on May 25. The order was passed in a petition filed by Sans Cashew India Private Ltd, seeking compensation for the loss of cargo valued at Rs 74 lakh.
Justice M A Abdul Hakhim further clarified that the vessel may be released upon the production of a demand draft for the said amount before the HC registrar general. Earlier, HC had similarly detained another vessel, MSC MANASA F, in connection with petitions filed by various companies to recover compensation for consignment losses arising from the sinking of ELSA 3.
In the present petition, the petitioner submitted that it had lost two consignments of Ghana dried raw cashew nuts (in shell) shipped from Tema port, Ghana, to Tuticorin port, India.
The cargo was transhipped via Adani Vizhinjam Port and loaded onto ELSA 3, which later sank due to technical and operational failures, as confirmed by the mercantile marine department (MMD) and directorate general of shipping. The petitioner contended that they are entitled to recover the maritime claim under the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017, amounting to Rs 73.49 lakh.
Meanwhile, the counsel for the vessel owner submitted that they had filed caveats before HC to prevent the arrest of vessels operated by the company within Indian territorial waters. It was also contended that the vessel is beyond 14 nautical miles from the Vizhinjam port and hence not available within the jurisdiction of this court. Nevertheless, HC ordered the conditional arrest of MSC Polo II until the production of the demand draft. Later in the afternoon, the shipping company produced the demand draft before the registrar. The petition has been adjourned to June 23.